Population Dynamics of Sex‐Changing Fish Species in Marine Protected Areas

摘要

Easter et al. used population models to analyze the expected pattern of recov-ery of sex- changing fish populations inside marine protected areas (MPAs). Manyfishes begin life female and then change to male when older. In these female- first(protogynous) species, harvest tends to selectively remove males, shifting sexratios and impairing reproduction. Setting expectations for population recoveryinside MPAs requires understanding how quickly sex ratios (and reproduction)rebound. Easter et al. show that whether sex- changing populations recover fasteror slower than non- sex- changing species depends on how many males a popula-tion needs for successful reproduction. This quantity can be estimated using fieldexperiments.